EVIL EYE, a superstitious belief that certain people have the power of exercising a baneful influence on others, and even animals, by the glance of the eyes.  The superstition is of ancient date, and is met with among almost all races, as it is among illiterate people and savages still.  It was customary to wear amulets toward the evil off.

EVOLUTION, the theory that the several species of plants and animals on the globe were not created in their present form, but have all been evolved by modifications of structure from cruder forms under or coincident with change of environment, an idea which is being applied to everything organic in the spiritual as well as the natural world.  See DARWINIAN THEORY.

EV`ORA, a city of Portugal, beautifully situated in a fertile plain 80 m.  E. of Lisbon, once a strong place, and the seat of an archbishop; it abounds in Roman antiquities.

EVREMOND, SAINT, a lively and witty Frenchman; got into trouble in France from the unbridled indulgence of his wit, and fled to England, where he became a great favourite at the court of Charles II., and enjoyed himself to the top of his bent; his letters are written in a most graceful style (1613-1703).

EVREUX (14), capital of the dep. of Eure, on the Iton, 67 m.  NW. of Paris; is an elegant town; has a fine 11th-century cathedral, an episcopal palace with an old clock tower; interesting ruins have been excavated in the old town; is the seat of a bishop; paper, cotton, and linen are manufactured, and a trade is carried on in cereals, timber, and liqueurs.

EWALD, GEORG HEINRICH AUGUST VON, a distinguished Orientalist and biblical scholar, born at Goettingen, and professor both there and at Tuebingen; his works were numerous, and the principal were “The Poetic Books of the Old Testament,” “The Prophets,” and “The History of the People of Israel”; he was a student and interpreter of the concrete, and belonged to no party (1803-1875).

EWALD, JOHANNES, a Danish dramatist and lyrist, born at Copenhagen; served as a soldier in the German and Austrian armies; studied theology at Copenhagen; disappointed in love, he devoted himself to poetical composition; ranks as the founder of Danish tragedy, and is the author of some of the finest lyrics in the language (1743-1781).

EWIGE JUDE, the Everlasting Jew, the German name for the Wandering Jew.

EXCALIBUR, the magic sword of King Arthur, which only he could unsheathe and wield.  When he was about to die he requested a knight to throw it into a lake close by, who with some reluctance threw it, when a hand reached out to seize it, flourished it round three times, and then drew it under the water for good.

EXCOMMUNICATION, an ecclesiastical punishment inflicted upon heretics and offenders against the Church laws and violators of the moral code; was formulated in the Christian Church in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.  It varied in severity according to the degree of transgression, but in its severest application involved exclusion from the Eucharist, Christian burial, and the rights and privileges of the Church; formerly it had the support of the civil authority, but is now a purely spiritual penalty.